Ott studied at the
University of Heidelberg, where he received his diploma in theoretical astrophysics in 2003 under . He then moved to the
University of Potsdam where in 2007 he earned an
PhD summa cum laude working under
Bernard F. Schutz. Starting in 2009, Ott worked as an
Assistant Professor at the
Niels Bohr Institute. That same year, he also started working at
Caltech as an Assistant Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics. From 2009 to 2014, he was also employed by the
Louisiana State University as an
Adjunct Assistant Professor.
Research focus Ott dealt with the mechanisms of
core-collapse supernovae, generation of
gravitational waves and the resulting signatures from various sources, theory of
long gamma-ray bursts (
collapsar model), and general
numerical relativity including
scientific computing for massively
parallel high-performance computers. He was part of the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) collaboration, contributed to the
open-source Einstein Toolkit for numerical relativity, and was a member of the
LIGO collaboration. In 2006, he proposed a new mechanism for
core-collapse supernovae in his
dissertation (pulsation modes of the proto-
neutron star and their
damping through
acoustic modes), In 2015, he demonstrated in
magnetohydrodynamic simulations with others that strong
magnetic fields, similar to those of
magnetars, can develop in rapidly rotating massive stars (scenario of
type Ic supernovae and the formation of
long gamma-ray bursts).
Sexual harassment accusations and resignation In late 2015 Ott was placed on unpaid leave from his position at Caltech after a university investigation found that he had violated the school's harassment policy after he was found to have harassed two of his female graduate students, He was originally suspended for 9 months. This was later extended by a year after he was found to have violated the terms of his suspension by contacting one of the complainants. It was also found that Ott violated the school's code of conduct by making up a female researcher who he listed as a co-author in a number of his papers. and Ott went on to resign from his position at Caltech in 2017. Following his resignation, Ott signed a 2-year contract to work at
Turku's Tuorla Observatory, however this appointment triggered widespread protests in
Finland including an open letter signed by more than 240 academics, which resulted in the agreement being cancelled. since then, he has been working in the field of
software engineering. He also contributed to the 2025
Lawrence Krauss book
The War on Science. == Awards ==